John Ashton
Text Curious Creatures in Zoology English original Spenser, who died before the accession of James I:, and therefore did not write about the supporters of the Royal Arms, alludes (in his Faerie Queene) to the antagonism between the Lion and the Unicorne. Pliny makes no mention of the Unicorn as we have it heraldically represented, but speaks of the Indian Ass, which, he says, is only a one-horned animal. Other old naturalists, with the exception of Ælian, do not mention it as our Unicorn—and his description of it hardly coincides. He says that the Brahmins tell of the wonderful beasts in the inaccessible regions of the interior of India, among them being the Unicorn, "which they call Cartazonon, and says that it reaches the size of a horse of mature age, possesses a mane and reddish-yellow hair, and that it excels in swiftness through the excellence of its feet and of its whole body. Like the elephant it has inarticulate feet, and it has a boar's tail; one black horn projects between the eye-brows, not awkwardly, but with a certain natural twist, and terminating in a sharp point." Guillim, who wrote on heraldry in 1610, gives, in his Illustrations, indifferently the tail of this animal, as horse or ass; and, as might be expected from one of his craft, magnifies the Unicorn exceedingly:— Topsell dilates at great length on the Unicorn. He agrees with Spenser and Guillim, and says:— There was a curious legend of the Unicorn, that it would, by its keen scent, find out a maiden, and run to her, laying its head in her lap. This is often used as an emblem of the Virgin Mary, to denote her purity. The following is from the Bestiary of Philip de Thaun, and, as its old French is easily read, I have not translated it:— Topsell, of course, tell the story:— It is hardly worth while to go into all the authorities treating of the Unicorn; suffice to say, that it was an universal belief that there were such animals in existence, for were not their horns in proof thereof? and were they not royal presents fit for the mightiest of potentates to send as loving pledges one to another? for it was one of the most potent of medicines, and a sure antidote to poison. And they were very valuable, too, for Paul Hentzner—who wrote in the time of Queen Elizabeth—says that, at Windsor Castle, he was shown, among other things, the horn of an Unicorn of above eight spans and a half in length, i.e., about 6½ feet, valued at ₤10,000. Considering that money was worth then about three times what it is now, an Unicorn's horn was a right royal gift. Topsell, from whom I have quoted so much, is especially voluminous and erudite on Unicorns; indeed, in no other old of new author whom I have consulted are there so many facts (?) respecting this fabled beast to be found. Here is his history of those horns then to be found in Europe:— They adulterated the real article, for sale. Having dilated so long upon the Unicorn, it would be a pity not to give some idea of the curative properties of its horn—always supposing that it could be obtained genuine, for there were horrid suspicions abroad that it might be "the horne of some other beast brent in the fire, some certaine sweet odors being thereunto added, and also imbued in some delicious and aromaticall perfume. Peradventure also, Bay by this means, first burned, and afterwards quenched, or put out with certaine sweet smelling liquors." To be of the proper efficacy it should be taken new, but its power was best shown in testing poisons, when it sweated, as did also a stone called "the Serpent's tongue." And the proper way to try whether it was genuine or not, was to give Red Arsenic or Orpiment to two pigeons, and then to let them drink of two samples; if genuine, no harm would result—if adulterated, or false, the pigeons would die. It was also considered a cure for Epilepsy, the Pestilent Fever or Plague, Hydrophobia, Worms in the intestines, Drunkenness, &c., &c.,—and it also made the teeth clean and white;—in fact, it had so many virtues that "no home should be without it." And all this about a Narwhal's horn! ---- }} External links *In the Internet Archive Category:Sources Category:English sources